my creative space: crocheted christmas balls

For this years Kiwi Christmas Ornament Swap after much deliberating I decided to make some crocheted christmas balls. Luckily I started ages ago as life has been pretty crazy lately (Jack's tonsilitis lasted 2 weeks and he was one very grumpy baby) so I only just finished the last one on the day we were meant to be sending them! Am pleased I stuck with them though as I do like the look of them and I really enjoy making these balls- crochet is very relaxing and a great de-stresser as any of you into crochet will understand! I followed the pattern at Kate from Greedy for Colour's crochet ball tutorial but added a few more rounds to make the ball bigger and then made a chain for the loop and added the bow and bell.  

(When I first started crochet I didn't know why my balls had the striped look on them like the red and green ones below but crochet queen Kristy from Paisley Jade and a couple of other helpful bloggers figured out I was only going through one stitch instead of both when doing each 'Single Crochet' stitch.  So for these balls I did some with stripes and some without.)

And I've just had a look at Kate's blog to link to the tutorial and great minds think alike hehe - she has made the most gorgeous crochet baubles using gold thread to make little toppers so they just like a bauble! And they look so divine all together in the box. Kate has written a tutorial for them too being the lovely crafter she is :) Making a crochet ball is a great thing to start with if you want to get into crochet and it gives you lots of skills to make other things like an easter egg, an apple and other stuffed shapes- crochet is a great portable project for the holidays too!

I've received some lovely ornaments from the swap so far thank you ladies- it's been so much fun opening up the little parcels. And thanks again Dione for organising another great swap- you can check out more of the swap ornaments at Dione's blog 'Sew Funky' here.

Megan x

my creative space: apples

 a crochet apple

By Mixing Ink

a crocheted apple 

(not sure if that's grammatically correct!)

Some times it's good to make something that's a bit frivolous but makes you smile...I made this apple cosy just for the fun of imagining my 4 year old's face when she opens her lunch box :) 

I tried a tutorial first but my cosy was looking more like a sombrero....

so I just started again and played around with my baby ball pattern instead that I modified from Kate's pattern here.

Wish I could see her face (and the teachers' who will probably think I'm a bit crazy) when she opens her lunchbox next week...

For more creative spaces, head on over here

Megan x

a bow brooch

It's been a bit of a rainy weekend here - good weather to get a few crafty projects finished including my brooch for the Flowerpress brooch swap. My swap partner is a really amazing crafter so I spent quite a bit of time thinking about what type of brooch to create. In the end after changing my mind a lot I decided to make a fabric bow brooch after seeing the bow hairclip I won from Amber and Hillary's blog last year.

But after more obessing (I think there were a few of us obsessing about our brooches!) I decided to make a crochet bow brooch as well as my partner loves crochet.

And then I got the idea to make a scarf using the fabric from the bow brooch and some lovely blue merino. (Thank you for the ideas on my Facebook page the other night on where to source merino- I ended up getting some from 'Moreland Fabrics' here in Tauranga but I am going to have a look at some from Global Fabrics too if I make some more.)

I made a few more bows too - some more for brooches and a couple to stitch on to a t-shirt or a bag perhaps.

So the parcel is finally all wrapped up ready to go - hope she likes it!
If you want to check out some of the brooches already made check them out here...I've just had a look and they look amazing, better get mine in the mail before I change my mind again!!
Thanks for a great swap Susie :)
Megan x

easter egg craftiness

Well you thought you'd seen the last of me for a while but no I am still sans baby and instead have spent most of the weekend making things to take my mind off still being sans baby!  I saw this decoupage egg project in the latest issue of Woman's Day magazine this week so we made them today. Well, Amelie started making them with me but sticking all the little bits of paper on the eggs proved a little tricky for her little hands so I finished the eggs while she made her own eggs on paper instead. So if you've got older children you can do this all together and if you've got younger ones you can have fun making the 3D eggs while your little ones can help rip the paper into little pieces and stick to their hearts content to make their own paper egg decorations- great projects for the school holidays which have just started here in NZ.

I got the polystyrene eggs from a shop called AJ's Emporium here in Tauranga- it's a sort of 'craft/ costume/ handyman/ random stuff' shop. They have pretty much everything you need for crafty projects- even the teeny cup hooks I used to stick into the top of the eggs to hang them on the branches.

 

I saw the fab idea for making these paper eggs from Clare's Craft Room last week too so it tied in really well with the decoupage eggs. Amelie just used the bits of paper already ripped up but stuck them on a piece of paper instead and we drew an egg shape on the back and cut it out. See Clare's tutorial here. 

I made some more crochet eggs too from Kate's tutorial here- they are very addictive to make!

Hope you all had a great weekend :)

Megan x

Organised Home Project 6: Eco-friendly Cleaning

Hello all, I hope you've had a good week. This week's challenge is more of a cleaning one than an organising one but it's definitely one that makes the house feel really good! After reading 'A Home Companion' by Wendyl Nissen I've been thinking a lot about having a more eco-friendly and healthy home so I got stuck in this week to making some home-made cleaners. I really enjoyed making them - it was like being a kid again mixing up potions and making 'perfume'! - and it's going to save a lot of money by buying less cleaning products.

Because it's an organised home challenge, here are some 'before' and 'after' pics...

Before

and After!

For the recipe's I used this liftout written by Wendyl (it came in an issue from the NZ Women's Weekly last year) as well as Wendyl's 'A Home Companion' book and a few other online recipe's.

To make the cleaners I made this week you'll need a few 'ingredients'.

-baking soda

-vinegar

-lemons

-essential oils- lemon, eucalyptus, lavender, orange and tea tree oils

-eco-friendly baby bath wash (I used Eco Store's)

-eco-friendly dishwashing liquid (I used Eco Store's again here too)

First I made some lemon dusters- I really enjoyed making these and maybe I'll even dust more now that I have a cute jar of them to use!

Then I made some spray cleaner- so far I've used it for the bench and the high chair, as well as cleaning the oven top (which it worked a treat on) and also my craft desk which had glue stick bits and other grubbiness on it and it looked good as new after using the spray.

Next I made some anti-bacterial spray which smells divine (my hubby used to complain about the smell of the Dettol germ spray as it is pretty strong!)

Then I made up some more baby wipes spray. I use this with flannels by just spraying the flannels with the spray.  I still use baby wipes as well but I'm going to try to use the flannels and spray a lot more. 

I also use Honeychild cloth nappies (which I mix with using disposables) so for when they get a bit stinky I made up a spray of just a cup of water and 10 drops each of tea tree and eucalyptus oils  It's a good spray for cleaning the toilet too. 

Next up I'd like to make some dishwasher powder and some laundry detergent but I'm going to need a few more ingredients for those ones.

Because I love having a crafty project for each of these 'challenges' I thought I would have a go at making some crochet dishcloths. I have seen them on heaps of blogs but have never used them, in fact I'd never heard of them until I started reading blogs! My sister was even asking me if I was going to crochet around a sponge as she had obviously never heard of them either!! Thanks for the ideas and comments on my blog post yesterday about them - I went to the knitting shop and bought some cotton yarn and made a cloth using single crochet stitches last night. If you want to have a go there are heaps of patterns and ideas here and also here.

After reading Angela's 'Eight household habits' I put up a hook in our kitchen for the cloth- much nicer than draped all over the tap getting smelly- thanks for the tip Angela :)

So if you're inspired to make some of your own cleaners now I've made up a little giveaway prize to help you get started...

...a ball of cotton yarn to make your own dishcloths, a tea tree oil soap,  tea towel, spray bottle and some cute sticker labels.

To be in to win...

 * leave a comment telling us about some organising you have been up to lately (leave your URL if you've posted about it) 

or *leave a comment telling us some thing(s) you'd like to do this year to make your home a bit 'greener" 

 or * tell us some of your eco-friendly cleaning tips

You can leave a comment on my mousehouse facebook page under the link to this post if you're a non blogger :)

I'll draw the winner next Friday the 25th March. I still have heaps of ideas and projects for my 'Organised Home' challenge but as I am nearing my due date I'm just going to start posting them whenever I can rather then every Friday as I think some weeks I'm going to be a little bit busy soon!

Thanks for reading along and joining in the challenge so far, have a great weekend :)

To see more of my 'organised home' projects, click here

Megan x

Edit: have just come across Sarah and Cat's "Gift of Love" appeal for mums and children in Christchurch- they are asking for knitted/crochet dishcloths among other things- check out their appeal here http://sarah-redgingham.blogspot.com/2011/03/gift-of-love-appeal-update.html

Four ways with a crochet flower and a tutorial

I love the last page in "Your Home and Garden' (NZ) magazine each month -"Four Ways With...' - lots of creative crafty ideas and little projects.

So after emailing this lovely crafter my crochet flower pattern she gave me the idea of writing my own 

'Four ways with ...a crochet flower'.

1. Decorate a woolly hat  (I bought the hat for $1 from the Bethlehem Market -bargain!)

2. Make a little brooch ( I found these brooch backers at a bead shop in Tauranga)

3. Embellish a granny square

4. Make a crochet flower hair-clip

A few people have asked where I found the pattern for my crochet flower...my crochet class teacher showed us how to make them in our first class so here are the instructions for any beginner crochet crafters like me!

How to crochet a small daisy flower

1. Chain 4

2. Do a slip stitch to make the chain into a ring (put your hook through the first chain stitch you did and hook the wool through that stitch and the stich on your hook) 

3. Wiggle your little finger through the ring you have made to make the hole a bit bigger and easier to see

4. Do a treble stitch into the hole (UK/AUS treble)

5. Do 2 more treble stitches into the hole (each set of 3 trebles makes a petal)

6. Now slip stitch by putting your hook through the hole, hooking the wool and pulling it through the hole and under stitch on your hook

7. Do 3 trebles into the hole again then another slip stich

8. Do 3 trebles and another slip stitch

9. Do 3 trebles then another slip stitch

10. Do 3 trebles- you should have 5 'petals' now 

11. Slip stitch into centre and fasten off/

I've made a pdf of the tutorial with step by step photo's that you can download or print here.

And for more crochet inspiration here are some clever people to visit...

http://crochethealingandraymond.wordpress.com (she has a lovely giveaway at the mo)
http://attic24.typepad.com/
http://greedyforcolour.blogspot.com/
http://auntymum.blogspot.com
www.kootoyoo.com

Megan x
PS: I'd love to hear of any more flower ideas and does anyone have a link to a pattern to make a bigger flower?
PPS: Go the All Whites!!

my creative space: more woolly goodness

I have been crocheting up a storm using my lovely 'Sublime' Merino wool from the Tauranga Knitting Centre. It feels so soft and the colours are just gorgeous! I'm going to make a blanket using these colours.

We're off the Raglan for the long weekend so I've a got a couple of things ready to pack...a copy of Country Living UK Magazine and my crochet supplies.  I'm using the lovely zip purse Jennie from A Little Vintage sent me as part of a giveaway prize- it's the perfect size for a bit of crochet- thanks again Jennie! I even took my crochet to the car testing place yesterday when I got my warrant-it was nice to have something to do while waiting.

My new knitting/crochet mania means I am really coveting this print at the moment- its from the very talented designer Colleen from Dear Colleen.  I am also loving yellow at the moment so it's perfect really! 

And if you are still to catch the knitting bug or a beginner like me but you really want some knitted goodies for your little ones the clever Jo from Cherubkids on Trademe sells gorgeous slippers and hats in lots of scrummy colours (and very reasonably priced too!) I have asked for a pair of adult ones tee hee! 

To see what's been happening in other creative spaces today head over to Kirsty's here ☞

Have a lovely cosy weekend:)

Megan x

granny squares and baby blankets

Well I've finally got a bit of time to write a post again- it's been a while!  Isn't it the perfect weather for some crafty woolly projects. One of my crafty challenges this year was to learn to crochet and I am so excited to have made my first granny square this week. I went to an afternoon class on Saturday at the Tauranga Knitting Centre and along with 3 others we all learnt how to make a square. I was by the far the slowest and needed the most teacher attention, in fact I had to move to sit next to the teacher ha! but I got there in the end. Of course when I got home and tried to make another one I ended up completely stuck and had to use some tutorials on the web but four days later I think I've got it! I found this photo tutorial from Susan London Textiles the best for making the first 'round' and then used Pip's lessons from "Meet Me At Mikes' to make the rest of the square.

 A pic of the square I made at the class (a bit wonky!) and my numerous practice pieces!

 I also made a start on a knitted peggy square for a baby blanket but I think I am going to crochet one first as its a lot quicker and winter is already here! 

And for some more crochet/knitting goodness.... a few weeks ago the very clever crochet gal Kirsty over at Kootoyoo showed us this amazing granny square necklace from jeweller Victoria Mason. I had a look at her other gorgeous jewellery and there's a little ball of knitting too- love it!

Well, better go before the baby wakes up.  It's pouring down outside and I've got the heater going, a chick flick on (the Meryl Streep movie 'It's Complicated' which my hubby will be pleased I'm not making him watch with me!) and a cat wanting to snuggle while I do some crochet- bliss!
Megan x